So it was easier to just write this here than send two asks (see also: I am lazy af and I tend to ramble)— Last night I went to bed at midnight thinking I was gonna be an adult and get some sleep, and then I was like Nah I’ll just start reading that raven book thing that clarkequeengriffin and coldsaturn keep referencing.
So – yes, I finished it, I actually got through book 1 and at least half of book 2 (between the hours of, y’know, midnight and 7am when I was supposed to be sleeping) – but here’s the thing, I don’t know what to think about it.
One of my biggest problems when it comes to reading is that it’s just hard to— care? Care is the wrong word, saying I don’t care sounds strong. So let’s say I’m not curious.
The author has a beautiful style, lovely words, borderline flawless, and I don’t have anything against the characters, but I’m facing the same problem I usually face when I try to read (one of the main reasons I stopped reading in the first place)– I’m not curious about what comes next. I opted to stay up all night because by 15% into the first book I realized if I stopped I might not come back to it. So it was easier to just stay up and keep reading til the finish line.
I’ll finish book 2 sometime soon, and chances are good I’ll read 3 and 4, but – maybe it’s one of those ideas that’ll seep in unnoticed, and fill up all the cracks where you didn’t think it was going to fit. And then in a month or two I’ll just be sitting there and going Damn, That book was actually pretty interesting. Anyway, it’s a work in progress.
I’ve never really had this problem because I just love reading so much, but in this specific case I’m somehow in the same boat, though not really: I don’t really care for what happens in the story, I just really love how she paints with words. the characters are nice too, even though I’m just curious about the gay ship.
what kind of books make you care for what happens next (or if it’s never happened: which books came close to it)? is there a trope or a type of character that make you stick to the story? (not necessarily making you curious about how it will end–90% of the times I don’t care how it will end, I just need to enjoy how I get there–but interested enough that you like reading nth scenes in which the characters face challenges and react to each other)
p.s. you pulled an all-nighter for a book that you didn’t even like all that much, you’re precious
Adding a cut because it’s starting to get long o_o one of these days I will learn how not to ramble haha not someone please remind me that tumblr is not LJ and not conducive for ranting
I remember when I loved reading.. ‘twas glorious. I remember going through the libraries at school devouring Dean Koontz and Michael Crichton and John Grisham and even a little bit of Prince Ombra because why not the original cover was shiny as fuck who could resist it.
I’m not sure what went wrong along the way. I assume at least part of it is my obsession with fixing my oldest projects— Foxes is one of four series I’ve been hanging onto for, what, 15+ years? I’ve become too selfish to let other people’s creations into my heart until I can let these ones go, perhaps.
The other part of the problem is the only book I can think of where I actually cared about the main character to the point of emotional pain, a series that isn’t published yet, a project my BFF has spent years working on. The project is paused for now out of necessity but that story pretty much ruined all other books for me from 2004 onward. The first time she handed it to me I read all three books back to back without stopping, without really even pausing to sleep or eat, and then stood in the shower for an hour trying to figure out how to patch my heart and soul back together.
Books that I remember enjoying for plot or otherwise would be things like The Electric Church, or The Knife of Never Letting Go, or The Magicians or even Rae Carson’s The Girl of Fire and Thorns. And just to throw everything else out of whack, let’s add Ella Minnow Pea because it is clever. These are the books I used to recommend to customers when they’d ask, but even this list has only one I can see myself picking up again anytime soon (The Magicians).
Also: I finished book 2 of TRC this morning. Haven’t ordered book 3 yet, and to be honest I’m a little leery of continuing after finishing Dream Thieves. August 6th I had a long drunken rant with my younger sister about why my current project wasn’t working out and why I was too afraid to write and why the only way past this roadblock was to pick up an older project again that I loved but failed to pull off and try try again.
Then that same night I started a series that has ley lines and dead things and dreams. They’re not the same ideas, but I hate reading and writing the same genres at the same time. Makes me nervous, makes me fear I’ll start blurring the stories in my mind and pulling what’s not mine to take. I think I’ll feel better if I can gain ground on this newest draft before going back to Lily Blue.